Lovely, Soft, Alive
by Rinna-Girl
Summary: "'You would have done the same for me.' And he knows it's right and she knows it's right because she would, god, she would." One-shot Reylo fix-it for the ending of TROS, REPOSTED due to weird coding error


Somehow the world is always wild around them. A blizzard. A tidal wave. Crumbling walls. Burning skies.

But not now. Now everything is still. The ruins of the Sith throne lie scattered about. Above them the sky is open. Even with the zipping and churning of the battle as the Resistance decimates the destroyers, down here it's silent.

A good quiet. A peaceful quiet. A quiet that Ben has craved. No voices in his head pushing him, driving him, manipulating him, mocking him.

She's so soft in his arms. She's looking at him without fear. With something entirely opposite. And when she speaks it isn't "monster" she calls him, but his own name. His real name. Not Ren. Not Kylo. Not monster.

"Ben."

She smiles. And that's it for him. He can feel the life leaving him, but god it was worth it for the crinkles in the corners of her eyes and the whisper of his name tumbling from her lips.

When she touches his cheek he stops breathing. And when her lips touch his he knows that it's okay. He doesn't need air. He needs her. He breathes her. _Rey_. Lovely. Soft. Alive.

His hand, gloveless and bare is on her neck, her pulse under his thumb thrumming with the life he's passed into her, her hair tickles his knuckles, her skin is warm. Lovely. Soft. Alive.

When they pull apart her eyes hold him still, kissing his very soul. His face bathed in the ghost of her breath.

He smiles. And it's been so long he isn't even sure he remembers how to do it, but she's there and that's everything he has left to give and so the smile comes.

When he falls back, her hands catch his head, keeping him from the ground, but grounding him all the same.

"Ben…._no_"

He can hear her but she's farther away now. Quieter. Fading. Or maybe it's him. Maybe he's fading.

He lets his eyes slip closed. It's so quiet. So peaceful. Her hand is on his.

Lovely. Soft. Alive.

When he wakes up again he's sure he's dead. Somehow being on his father's ship seems like exactly the sort of form his afterlife would take. But then he registers the pain. His leg is set, undoubtedly broken, and his wounds are bandaged. Pain like this tells you you're alive.

For a moment he wishes he were dead but then the door slides open and he knows why he isn't. He takes it all back right then and there.

Rey drifts—yes drifts, because Rey is either a soft breeze or a hurricane wind but she's always air—to his side.

"Ben…why would you do that? Why would you try to give me all of your life energy?"

He's sure she knows the answer, but he isn't sure either of them are ready to say it, so instead he tells her another truth.

"You would have done the same for me."

And he knows it's right and she knows it's right because she would, god, she _would_.

"Ben, you should know something. You said we were a dyad in the Force. Well now…"

"What is it?" His concern spikes as she trails off because she's struggling to make eye contact with him and he wonders if it's all about to come crashing down.

But then she blushes.

"Well, I think…now…we're sort of…_one._"

He isn't even surprised. And he definitely isn't upset. But Rey is still biting her lip, worrying over what his reaction will be. She keeps talking, the silence making her nervous.

"And by that I mean that, well, we sort of share a single life force now. I had to give half of it back to you to keep you alive, but I think if something happens to one of us then the other will probably die too…And I know that must be difficult, trusting your life to me, a stranger but—"

"Rey." His voice is so low she's sure she feels it in her bones before her ears even hear it.

"You're no stranger. _I know you._"

Her smile is bemused, stunned, but then it breaks loose. There's something wild in her and now it's in him too so he grins with her and they laugh, the same sigh of a sound, as much a deep breath as an exhale.

Because he _does_ know her and she knows _him_ and they reach for one another instinctively. When he kisses her, he can taste her smile again and he's sure she can taste his too.

Lovely. Soft. _Alive._


End file.
